[s-cars] Eibach Update

[Linus Toy]

Not to pick on Dave, as you aren't the first to describe it this way, but this
has always bugged me whenever described this way...why the emphasis on how much
"air" gap from tire to fender arch?  Are we on this list so enamored (and
suckered) by the Eibach "cool" vs "uncool" ad from some time back?  Isn't that
market the riced-out Honda, boy-racer crowd?  Sorry...off my soapbox now.

The idea behind changing springs ought to be optimizing the suspension for your
use.  Spring-rates are about balancing the car (really roughly speaking) and
ride-height about lowering the car's center of gravity, both toward getting the
handling (and ride) you want.  Just remember--the ancient mac-strut design on
our cars is not real tolerant of excessive lowering--the geometry goes away
real fast.  (OTOH, with all the rubber bushings in the design, perhaps it isn't
that critical!)

Finally, measurements like this are impossible to understand without more
context--what was the measurement before the spring change?  what brand and
size tires are you using, on what wheel (brand, size, offset).  Even a
measurement such as fender lip to ground is suspect as it is not directly
comparable from one car to another.  Best way for us to know the effects of a
spring set are before/after measurements from wheel-hub center to fender lip,
as this removes the wheel/tire variable from the equation.

--------------------------------------------------------
Linus Toy               Insanity is doing the same thing
Mercer Island, WA       you've always done and expecting
linust at mindspring.com   different results
                        - Roger Milliken, Milliken & Co
--------------------------------------------------------

> -----Original Message-----
> From: s-car-list-admin at audifans.com
> [mailto:s-car-list-admin at audifans.com] On Behalf Of Djdawson2 at aol.com
> Sent: Monday, April 14, 2003 8:07 AM
> To: s-car-list at audifans.com
> Subject: [s-cars] Eibach Update
>
>
> --
> [ Picked text/plain from multipart/alternative ]
> Well, finally got around to putting my Eibachs and Konis into
> my car... so
> now I know for sure.  The front is lowered to the point where
> there is about
> 1 1/4 inch of air space between the fender arch and the top
> of the tire
> (235/45/17).  In the rear, there is about 3 1/2 inches of
> space.  I'm finding
> it hard to imagine that a spacer could ever be needed.  As I
> compared the
> perch location on my Konis to the location on the stock
> strut, it is exactly
> the same +/- 1/16 inch.
>
> My Eibachs are the 1527.001 and 1517.002 variety recently
> purchased from
> shox.com.
>
> Absolutely thrilled with the outcome.  Not harsh, but nice
> and firm.  Much
> improved road feel and responsiveness.
>
> However, now I find myself wondering about the rear.  It
> looks abnormally
> high compared to the front.  I'm going to see if it settles
> some, but if it
> doesn't, I'll be tempted to remove 1 of the inactive coils to
> balance out the
> ride height.
>
> Dave in CO
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